i'm going to get a follow. that's messed up. >> that is messed up. we've been following -- we get all the feeds in the back, these tv screens back here. a.j.'s girlfriend has been in the lower right screen for three hours. which means she's on the rotation. she must have been on all the other morning shows this morning but ours. it's a shame. i wanted to ask her about pakistan. i'll have to wait. >> what did you learn today? >> tomorrow matthew from downton abbey is coming. >> no way! >> disastrous booking. lady mary should be coming. >> talk to matthew about lady mary. >> it's like musburger has this creepy thing. >> very creepy. >> about a.j.'s girlfriend. you've got a creepy thing about lady mary. >> we all have a creepy thing about lady mary. >> what did you learn today? >> i learned elizabeth warren and i agree on this aig thing. >> that's what i learned! we have that in common. >> fantastic. >> what would elizabeth do? you're going to get a little

sticker. >> we were just talking about being old and what constitutes being old. meacham brought up winston churchill. 65 when he became prime minister. saved western civilization. if you turned 60 now, my life's behind me. churchill, not prime minister until -- >> it's time for "morning joe." now it's time for the great chuck todd. >> he's fantastic. >> we love you, chuck. i'm sorry for him. with afghanistan's president heading into washington to meet with president obama, a debate emerges about how long u.s. troops will be there. a central issue that will face the president. picks to run the pentagon and the cia. that's if they make it through the senate gauntlet. this morning we'll meet one of the faces of the gop. freshman congressman tom cotton of arkansas. got a big crowd of

conservatives. grinning from ear to ear already about his future in his party. and richard nixon would have turned 100 years old today if he were still alive. find out how his legacy is still trying to get shaped by his supporters and why he might be the most consequential american politician in the last half century. good morning from washington. it's wednesday, january 9th, 2013. this is the daily rundown. i'm chuck todd. right to my first reads of the morning. the end of the month deadline provides president biden's task force on gun violence to present its proposals is quickly approaching. today biden, cabinet members and senior staff kick off a series of meetings with what the white house describes as stake holders in this debate aimed at trying to produce a consensus or proposals to curb gun violence. today biden meets with victims groups and gun safety organizations. including the brady campaign and several state level gun control groups. top aid to new york city mayor

michael bloomberg is also scheduled to attend. tomorrow he'll meet with advocates for sportsmen and women and gun ownership groups. also representatives from the entertainment and video game industry. let's go to that nra meeting. how much of this will be show? how much of it is substance? probably a lot more show than anything. something if you think about it had to be done for appearances on both sides. and it probably is more about pr than anything else. the nra, which is sending the director of federal relations for its lobbying arm told nbc simply, quote, we got an invite late friday. we are sending a representative to hear what they have to say. >> the nra says it's here to hear what the white house has to say. so if you guys are here to listen to them, they're here to listen to you -- >> the process is designed to get input. >> broadly, the white house has two options when it comes to

guns. either incremental change like making a push for banning high capacity magazines, improving mental health screenings, or a big bold package that could reinstate the assault weapons ban. require mandatory background checks of all purchases, create a national gun ownership data base. but that second set of proposals will be a heavy political lift. many democrats including president -- former president bill clinton believe to this day democratic support for the 1994 assault weapons ban was responsible for the party losing the house and senate that year. democratic leader nancy pelosi setting her own expectations. >> the safety of our country cannot go as slow as the slowest ship in the house of representatives. or even the united states senate. >> do you think people are going to be willing to take the risk of losing their seats again? >> i think so. many democrats lost their seats in the next election, in fact, we lost the house for multiple reasons. but that was one of them. and -- but they came back in this period between election and

now in the lame duck period and said they would do it again. it was so important to our country. >> we'll see. the fact of the matter is, where this goes, what is the political will as far as the white house is concerned, they can make a pragmatic argument that if they go with a smaller package it actually has a chance of passing if it has consensus but it could disappoint a lot of folks that want to see the white house go bigger and bolder on this issue. afghan president hamid karzai is in town. he's going to be discussing the u.s. role in afghanistan post-2014. the u.s. or at least the white house is signaling it wants out of afghanistan and the white house disclosing a zero option. that is withdrawal or bust as a negotiating tactic. that's what this is. while troop levels aren't formally on the menu, the scope and size of the post-2014 force will be the focus of this trip by karzai and includes he's got meetings at the state department, and the pentagon. then with president obama on friday. security is tight. karzai hasn't been caught on

camera yet. this green tarp blocked any view of the walkway to blair house where karzai will stay during his visit. the assumption is that the afghan president who's political power and life really have depended on the u.s., that he probably wants a bigger u.s. footprint in afghanistan than he'll ever say because of his own domestic political reality. asked yesterday on a conference call previewing the visit whether it's possible there will be zero u.s. troops on the ground after 2014, deputy national security adviser ben rhoades did not rule that out. >> that would be an option that we would consider. because, again, we -- the president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping u.s. troops in afghanistan. >> potentially sets up a debate or even a confrontation with the giant chief, general john allen. has recommended that the u.s. leave as many as 20,000 troops

in afghanistan. after the 2014 deadline. but with more hawkish members of his cabinet like secretary clinton and gates gone, being replaced by folks like chuck hagel and john kerry who if confirmed both have more cautious views about the use of military force, president obama seems to be protecting himself from a scenario where he gets boxed in politically by the pentagon like some believe the president believes he was in 2011. hagel, though, still has his own fight on his hands. yet senator john mccain acknowledged that his skepticism about the nomination of his long time friend and ally has its roots, and why they've split since, has its roots in the fact that hagel split with mccain on the iraq surge. >> we both knew that we were losing the war in iraq. lindsey graham and i and joe lieberman and others said we need a surge. and the president somewhat reluctantly adopted the surge

and it succeeded. senator hagel obviously said it couldn't. and he called it the biggest blunder since the vietnam war. that is a really gross misconception of america's role there and in the world. >> south carolina senator lindsey graham said he could put a hold on cia nominee john brennan's nomination until the white house addresses questions about benghazi again. quote -- i do not believe we should confirm anyone as director of the cia until our questions are answered, like who changed ambassador susan rice's talking points and deleted the references to al qaeda. my support for a delaying confirmation is not directed at mr. brennan but is an unfortunate yet necessary action to get information from this administration. the white house is trying to sell, meanwhile, back on hagel, trying to sell hagel's personal story. and no one may tell that better than his brother, tom, who served alongside him in vietnam and described to nbc how they narrowly escaped death together.

>> the concussion was incredible. it knocked us both down. and he was behind me and i looked back and he was flat on his back, blood all over his chest. so i went back. things come up where he's being criticized for this or that or the other thing, or we're both having problem. we look at each other and say, you know, what can they do to you? send you back to vietnam? >> that all may be true. on the importance of this response, that the number two democrat in the senate, new york's chuck schumer, gave to "the wall street journal" when asked about hagel's nomination. >> you owe the president, no matter what party you are and what party he is, a right to hear his nominee. so i want to hear directly from chuck hagel. i'll let him make his case. all i can say is that i have an open mind and i'm ready to sit and listen to him. >> do you think he will ultimately be confirmed?

>> it's too early to tell, i suppose. i'm not going to take guesses like that until i sit down and talk to him. >> how about that? do you think he will be confirmed. and arguably the second most powerful senator in the senate said, it's too early to tell. not the type of language that the white house wanted to hear on chuck hagel's nomination. finally, it's that time of year. governors around the country, they delivered their state of the state addresses. this year we're looking at these with a different eye. we've counted at least a dozen current governors, maybe more, who may end uptaking a trip to new hampshire or iowa, testing the waters for a presidential run. we're going to be following them a little more closer over the next two weeks than we normally do with these state of the states as they set their own agendas for the coming year. and a lot of times they'll be doing it with an eye on getting some national attention. three of the more high profile among these potential 2016ers, new jersey governor chris christie, new york governor andrew cuomo, virginia governor bob mcdonnell all are giving their addresses within 24 hours

of each other. tonight cuomo plans to unveil one of the country's most restrictive bans on assault weapons. gun rights advocates are already calling attention to these comments he made on the radio in december. >> in this state the assault weapon ban is -- has more holes than swiss cheese. con confiscation could be an option. mandatory sale to the state could be an option. permitting could be an option. >> cuomo has not mentioned that idea since and his aides have acknowledged that it would be impractical. still very interesting. keep an eye on what he says about climate change. cuomo has been very strong on that. meanwhile, new jersey governor chris christie, he's already given his state of the state address in trenton. did that yesterday. he used it to call for congressional actions on a full, clean sandy aid bill. >> one thing i hope everyone in

america now clearly understands. new jersey, both republicans and democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being shortchanged. >> christie, who has hardly been silent, made another dig at other members of his party in an appearance on "morning joe" this morning. >> that's what the public really, i think, is hungering for is to see things get done. that's why republican governors are doing well. you look across the country and last year in the election, republicans lost at every level in the federal system but in the state system we added a governor. >> interesting spin there. the third of our governors that we're watching these next 24 hours, virginia's bob mcdonnell. he gives his state of the commonwealth address tonight a day after unveiling a transportation funding plan which remarkably called for the elimination of the gap tax which has traditionally been what funded transportation. instead replacing it with higher sales taxes and other fees. including even a $100 annual fee

on hybrid cars and alternative fuel vehicles. >> virginia's current revenues simply do not add up to a safe, efficient and sustainable transportation infrastructure network. this was easy, it would have been done 26 years ago. >> there's actually an interesting issue that a lot of state governors have been trying to tackle which is as gas -- as the use of gasoline goes down, the ability to use gas taxes and have a reliable funding mechanism on transportation projects and things like that is being called into question. with alternative fuels, all of these issues. an interesting attempt there. it's going to be something we're watching very closely. all right. up next, the new guy on the hill who's got a lot of people talking. just days after arriving in washington, he's already bucking boehner and he's showing no signs of stopping. meet congressman tom cotton of arkansas. he's here to kick off what we're doing. a meet the new member series over the entire month of january. plus, love him or hate him,

you can't forget him. as richard nixon turns 100, we're going to take a deep dive into how the 37th president changed modern american politics in ways that sometimes many of you have probably forgotten. first, a look ahead at the president's schedule today. lunch with biden. he's doing a screening here for a sitcom about the presidency written by one of his former speech writers. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. if you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do: face time and think time make a difference. join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing.

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shortly after i began this campaign an elderly woman came up to me and she said, you were in the army, right? i said, yeah, i was. she said now you're running for congress. i said, yes, ma'am, i am.

she said, well, why would you want to leave the country's most respected institution for the country's least respected institution? >> the pastime of bashing congress. even guys who want to get there bash congress. anyway, while the republican majority in the house has shrunk, the tea party is losing a little steam there, there are some new con sfshtive faces on the hill this year. one of the most talked about is republican congressman tom cotton. he's a six generation arkansan. he has two degrees from harvard, worked as a management consultant, spent five years serving in the infantry in iraq and afghanistan. cotton won a republican primary by 20 points with support from the club for growth. now represents the fourth district which includes, by the way, bill clinton's hometown. a place called hope. congressman tom cotton joins me now. congratulatio congratulations. welcome to washington. >> thank you, chuck. mike huckabee's hometown as well. >> mike huckabee also from hope. let me start with why did you decide to run for congress? because you were not recruited. you ended up having to -- you weren't recruited by even the

new washington republican establishment. what made you get in? >> chuck, it's a lot of the same reasons i decided to leave my law practice and join the army so many year ago. i did that because of the 9/11 attacks. i thought the country was facing a perilous moment and needed new leaders. i thought i could do my part in iraq and afghanistan. as i watched the drift in washington in the first two years of the obama administration, i thought again we face a perilous moment. this time it's the debt crisis we face. when our incumbent congressman announced his retirement i thought i could perhaps provide some of that leadership here in washington. i wanted come to washington and fight for the same freedoms here that i did in iraq and afghanistan. >> some of your first votes. you are being called what's part of the hell no caucus. my apologies for the language there but it wasn't mine. it's a cover story. do you accept that idea that that's the -- that's what your role is going to be in the republican conference? >> i don't think that'll be my role in the republican conference. but i think that the congress as a whole may need to say hell no

to barack obama a little bit more. frankly i wish we might have had people here in 2009 and 2010 who were saying that as obama care was passed, as the stimulus was passed, as a dodd/frank financial regulatory bill was passed. >> you won a district that was held by a democrat. for a long period of time. it was, you know, as other districts in arkansas were going republican, the fourth was not going. and barack obama was winning by a bigger margin than he had won -- than a lot of people had expected. got the second biggest margin if you will for a second term going back some 50 years for a democrat. so he has a mandate, too. so why do you feel as if there should be more noes to him? >> i mean, his popular votes declined. his margin of the popular vote declined. his overall percentage of the popular vote declined. his electoral vote declined. that is actually not as strong a performance as the white house has argued that it is. that he has some kind of massive mandate. but it's really not a matter of politics. it's a matter of what policy is right for the country.

our problem in washington is that we have too much spending and too little growth. we need pro growth solutions in the congress. we need to pass our bills. as the speaker said we're going to. and call upon the senate to act. the president can provide his input at any point. we'll return to the regular constitutional order that our founders designed. >> all right. but the country sent democrats in control of the u.s. senate. put republicans in control of the u.s. house. but democrats in control of the white house. if you look at that as sort of the three ledges here of who designs legislation, democrats control two of them. >> sure. >> are you going to be open to compromise where you only get, say, 40% of what you want? >> we can be. and, yeah, that's the way our constitution is designed, though, is to require, you know, large consensus majorities. not just among elected officials in washington, but among the american people. it's not designed to have the kind of rapid, radical change you had in the first few years of the obama administration. >> let's talk about that. there was a large majority for raising taxes on the wealthy. >> but we had -- >> why didn't you vote for either part of those? >> we had divided government

under bill clinton in the last six years of his administration. he also compromised on matters like welfare reform, the balanced budget agreement. that's not what you've seen from this president here in washington. when it comes to taxes, i wasn't a member of congress when the fiscal cliff bill passed, but more broadly -- >> you said i would have voted against plan b and you would have voted against it? >> correct. because i don't think we have a problem with tax receipts here in washington. tax receipts in 2012 were one of the highest years they've ever been after 2006 and 2007. spending is what's gone up. we would have to raise taxes by more than 50% to where they are today, chuck, to reach today's spending. to get country back to a balance budget and get the economy growing we don't need to increase taxes further. we need to reduce our spending, enact pro growth policies to get economic growth back up to 3% or 4%. >> couple of quick things. debt ceiling. government shutdown. do you believe the debt ceiling should be used as leverage? >> we have three impending moments. the debt ceiling, the continuing resolution to fund the

government, and then the sequester spending cuts that have been delayed for 60 days. no one in the republican conference is talking about a default on our sovereign debt. but we do need to use these moments to address the spending explosion that we've seen in the last four years of the obama administration. >> are you saying you want to say debt ceiling, maybe set that aside and focus more on the other two? >> i'm saying the treasury has more than enough tax receipts every month to pay the interest on our sovereign debt. so there's nobody but barack obama who's talking about a default on our sovereign debt. we can prioritize payments on a monthly basis to ensure there's no default. then we can have the hard negotiations necessary to get spending back under control. >> you are saying, hey, don't raise the debt ceiling. make treasury -- >> unless there's real spending cuts, unless there's real structural reform -- >> even though this is about previous spending? you were a business consultant. it is hard to sit there looking backwards. this is money that's already been promised. >> we can cover the interest payments on that previous spending.

what barack obama wants is more spending going forward in the future. and, frankly, he doesn't have much credibility on this. the senate voted four times when he was in the senate to raise the debt ceiling. he voted against it once. he couldn't be bothered to show up for it twice. >> i want to ask you something quick. apparently one of your professors at harvard is now a u.s. senator from massachusetts. elizabeth warren. tell me about her class. you were telling me interesting things off camera about her class. it was among the most rigorous you took. >> yes. elizabeth warren was my contract law professor on my first day in my first class at law school. she was a good professor. i learned the subject very well. probably not as well as others did reflecting my grade. i knew that she was probably left of center based on her scholarship. that didn't affect her classroom teaching. i was a little bit surprised when she became an obama administration official and especially senate candidate just how far to the left she was. we sit on committees that'll be working together between the senate and house. >> did you say this was among the toughest classes you took?

one of the most rigorous professors? >> no doubt. it'll be nice to meet her across the table as a peer this time as opposed to a pupil. >> fair enough. tom cotton from arkansas. welcome to washington. thanks for coming on. nice to meet you. little breaking news before we go to break. we're following this out of lower manhattan where it appears a commuter ferry had a hard docking. there are reports of about a dozen injuries. we're seeing people carried off the pier on stretchers. the fdny tells wnbc all the injuries are minor. we will be keeping an eye on this story and let you know more as it develops. when we come back, votes are in in a much debated and long dreaded election. this is a different kind of battling, though, than what we are usually telling you about. plus, an affair to remember. it's arkansas day here in washington. arkansas politician not too far from a place called hope is giving us a little dose of deja vu in little rock. first, today's trivia question. how many current members of congress were on the house

judiciary committee that voted to impeach president nixon? believe it or not, there are still some left. tweet your answer @chucktodd and @dailyrundown. we'll be right back. michael and maya are keeping an eye on their inventory. they're always ready for customers who open seed from their company visual lingual. strong relationships with suppliers and knowing clients' habits help them maintain a balanced inventory. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. at optionsxpress we're all about options trading.

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it lets me be me. and i naturally became a healthier me. i amazed myself. get used to it. because when a weight loss program is built for human nature you can expect amazing. introducing the new weight watchers 360 program. join for free and expect amazing. because it works. back to that breaking news. here you see there in lower manhattan. it's a commuter ferry that slammed into pier 11 just before 9:00 this morning. there are at least 17 injuries. all are being assessed on site. so far no one has been moved to the hospital. all right. on our other campaign radar this morning, hope springs eternal for an arkansas democrat. a constitutional controversy brewing in vens sway la. and there may be a shutout in baseball today. first former ohio governor ted strickland announced he will not

seek his old job in 2014. if he had run he would have set up a rematch with kasich. kasich edged out strickland in 2010 in one of the closer races and has since struggled with some low poll numbers after attempts to curb collective bargaining rights. his numbers have been slowly rising as the employment situation has gotten better in ohio. arkansas attorney general dustin mcdaniel is embroiled in an extramarital affair. but at this point it's not stopping his campaign for governor. mcdaniel, a democrat, and the only candidate to announce for the state's 2014 governor's race, admitted to an affair with a hot springs attorney who handled five cases that were defended by the state's attorney general's office. mcdaniel has said no ethics rules were violated in the course of the affair. he's already raised more than a million dollars for his gubernatorial campaign. the reason this story, the person he was having an affair with was also being investigated in relation to some murder which is -- that has nothing to do

with the attorney general. but bottom line, folks, it is a crazy soap opera that is bizarre. anyway, medical treatment will prevent venezuelan president hugo chavez from being sworn in for a new tomorrow tomorrow. that sparked a te bait with opponents calling for an interim president to take over. chavez supporters say the swearing in is a mere formality since there is, quote, continuity from one term to the next. chavez is still recovering in cuba. he's had four cancer surgeries since 2011. finally, the steroid era backlash may rear its head today when the results from this year's baseball hall of fame vote will be revealed. this was the first chance voters got to weigh in on three of the game's biggest and arguably more controversial steroid stars. barry bonds, roger clemens and sammy sosa. early signs show this men will fall short of the 75% vote needed to enter the hall. bonds and clemens had 15 mvp and cy young awards between them why

sosa is one of only seven men to have hit more than 609 home runs. but all three have been linked to performance enhancing drugs in recent years. tainting their chances of getting into cooperstown. there is an assumption this is the year a bunch of writers leave their ballots blank. and it hurts people like jack morris who might be on or dale murphy or craig biggio who should be a lock this year. birthday bash kind of takes on new meaning when the birthday belongs to richard nixon. we're taking a deep dive into the nixon legacy and this latest attempt by some long-time -- to rehab his reputation again. nixon comeback. every four or five years, someone's trying to do it again. the 100th birthday is being used for just that. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. for his! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery.

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out of new york city. pier 11 is now closed. a commuter ferry hit the dock just before 9:00 this morning. pictures show a large hole in the side of the boat. fire department of new york says there are 17 injuries. some of those people were transported from the ferry on stretchers. the pier is located right near wall street in lower manhattan. events are being held today, and frankly all year long, to commemorate the 100th birthday of former president richard nixon. today we're going to take a deep dive into the latest in a decades' long effort to burnish the reputation of a man who came to embody the best and worst of american politics all rolled up into one person. nixon was arguably the most consequential american politician of the last half century. he reinvented the way candidates run their campaigns. he fueled conservative distrust of the media that still is there today. changed the way the public sees the presidency. his supporters are going out of their way to focus on what they believe is the positive and ignore the negative parts of nixon's legacy.

but neither was possible without the other. as a young man richard nixon was elected to the house at the age of 33. he made the jump to the senate when he was just 37 and was tapped as dwight eisenhower's running mate, ready for this? at 39. but his career nearly ended right there when allegations of improper financial gifts led eisenhower to reconsider his choice. faced with growing controversy nixon addressed the criticism head on in the famous checkers speech. used this crazy thing called television. >> pat and i have the satisfaction that every dime that we've got, we've honestly earned. i should say this. pat doesn't have a new coat. but she does have a respectable republican -- i always tell her she'd look good in anything. >> nixon's point by point response silenced critics.

eight years later nixon became the first politician to be victimized by the new medium. his shaky debate performance opposite kennedy, at least appearancewise, led to nixon's defeat in 1960. two years later he lost again. beaten padly lybadly in a case governor of california. looked like nixon's political career was over. in what he called his final press conference nixon blamed the media for his loss and laid the ground work for decades of distrust between conservatives and the press. >> you will now write it. you will interpret it. that's your right. but as i leave you, i want you to know, just think how much you're going to be missing. you don't have nixon to kick around anymore. >> the irony is without the press in 1950, he might not have won that senate race. they were in his back pocket back then. anyway, nixon didn't stay down for long. he went to work to help his fellow republicans. first as a loyal supporter for barry goldwater in 1964. and for congressional candidates

in '66. he launched a new generation of conservatives. he rode the wave of the '66 midterms to the party's presidential nomination in '68. he completed this stunning political comeback by winning the white house. once there we got more of the good nixon and the bad nixon. his trip to china and russia in '72 reshaped american foreign policy. his policies of sending federal money to the states prompted a rise in local initiatives. he worked on behalf of affirmative action, promoted women's rights, established the epa. for later generations nixon's political life is often summed up in two words. vietnam and watergate. he made good on his promise to get u.s. troops out of the war. some 20,000 soldiers died while he was in office. nixon's paranoia and distrust of the media led to the scandal that ended his president. he appeared on "meet the press" in 1988 in an attempt to put watergate and his presidency in perspective in his eyes. >> it was a great mistake. it was wrong. as i pointed out over and over again. but under the circumstances now

people as they judge that period have to see what we accomplished and what we did wrong. and for the future, i would advise all those who follow me and the position of president, do the big things as well as you can. but when a small thing is there, deal with it. deal with it fast. get it out of the way. because if you don't it's going to become big and then it may destroy you. >> after a memorial ceremony at the nixon library in yorba linda california, the president's oldest daughter tricia said she hoped people would remember her father as a good and decent man. with me now is host of "hardball" chris matthews. author of "kennedy & nixon." also "jack kennedy: elusive hero" out in paperback. there was a column by roger simon that inspired me to sit there and say -- you can't. everything about nixon is complicated. roger simon just went through every single of the nastiest things that nixon said on those

tapes. that was caught saying on tapes. he was negative on jews. he was negative on african-americans. which, of course, these tapes have just shown a spotlight on his paranoia and some of his bizarre thinkings. who is this guy? >> it's all true. >> you can't ever do one without the other. >> there's no defending what he said on the tapes. the anti-semitism even for his generation was extraordinary. >> at the same time his chief sort of confidant was henry kissinger. >> and arthur burns. and bill sapphire. and len garment. they were all close friends that were jewish. >> we're not going to get into there. >> here's the interesting thing. i went back and studied the tapes when i wrote the book back then. i thought it's interesting. you know how people in politics talk to different people different ways? >> yeah. >> well, we know that. in other words, who you're talking to. somebody said he said this. i'm reading the history book. who did he say it to? who is he playing to?

the source of evil. in many ways very anti-semitic. >> you believe he was the source? >> every time you go to the tapes nixon's talking to halderman. the really vicious stuff was halderman. >> let's talk about this. >> he's playing to a guy. >> every five years there are nixon supporters that are trying to sort of -- >> you can't do that. they're not going to succeed. this isn't france. >> they're trying to -- >> in france that'll work. the french really do like him. chinese like him. the buses come from -- when they get off at the l.a. airport, the chinese tourists go to the nixon library. worldwide he's a big figure. you said something in your introduction which i thought was fascinating about how big a role he's played in our history. >> there's nobody bigger. it's unbelievable. >> here's a stat. from 1952 when i first started to 1972, a 20-year run, a whole generational run, he was on the republican national ticket every single time except once when he didn't want to be on it in '64.

'52, '56, '68 and '72 on the national ticket. nobody's had a run like that. his influence was enormous. >> he professionalized politics. people forget this. the kennedy team did and started dabbling in this. but the nixon -- the remaking of nixon if you will in '68. the hiring of a tv guy. it all has an impact to this day. >> i think what he did -- the real evil, obvious, was the way he treated jerry vorhees. then the pink lady. >> he bashes the media. the press corps in '58 in california were nixon people. >> the chandler family was totally with him. try to explain this psycho basketball. in 1948 he was right. audrey was a red agent. he was a complete red. he's head of the united nations.

totally involved. he goes and gets his order on the way back home. total red. nixon named him. a lot of the liberals wouldn't support that. the really good liberals said he was a red. nixon was right. then in '52 when he got involved in the fund scandal, he wasn't guilty of anything special. hadleigh stevens had one of these funds. >> those two things -- >> of course in the '62 race he thought he was being bugged the whole time. the bobby kennedy history of bugging. nixon wasn't the only guy that bugged people. the wiretaps. we hold on to history about martin luther king. i think he got imbem bittered. turned south. he was a much worse guy in the later '60s than going into the '60s. some people break bad. i think nixon broke bad. >> chris matthews. >> complicated. >> everything about nixon is complicated. you can't just do it in five minutes which we just attempted to do. anyway, thank you, sir. our update gaggle will be here next. first, white house soup of the

day. tomato basil. hope you all enjoyed your peanut butter and banana sandwiches yesterday. hope you got what i was talking about. tcb. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. if you're eligible for medicare, you might know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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the white house effort to develop a gun control policy begins in ernest today. let's bring in the gaggle. bloomberg review and national review, former democratic senator blanche lincoln of arkansas. and my colleague, mike viqueira. i want to start with you, senator lincoln. you're in congress during the 1994 debate. bill clinton to this day, your fellow arkansan, believes more so than any of the other issues that he had to deal with in '94, the '94 midterms the assault weapon ban is what hurt democrats the most. what can the white house do -- your advice to joe biden, do you go small, incremental and get something passed?

or do you try to go big, change the conversation, but ultimately fail? >> i think you have to stay steady on the conversation. that's critical. i took that vote in '94. i had to go home and run for re-election. >> and you won. >> i did. but i went to those nra meetings. and i talked to those people who i knew very well. i went goose hunting saturday morning over on the eastern shore. you know, there are reasonable people out there who understand that the incidences that we saw in connecticut are too frequent. they're -- they're outrageous. and we've got to do something about that. >> you think you can have the conversation. you felt like you had the conversation with gun owners? >> i do. i think there's a lot of people out there that know that, row kn you know, the circumstances are if you need 47 rounds to get a deer you need to go to target practice. >> you're not a fwood shot. mike, you know these guys in the house. it passed by two votes in that democratic house. two votes. democratic house. >> yeah. >> this is a republican house.

is there a -- is there a compromise? is it mental health and magazines? >> think the danger here for gun control advocates the more time goes by, senator lincoln says they've tried to keep it on the front burner but we revert to the status quo anti-in terms of gun control. that's the obvious default position. i think the white house recognizes that. like a lot of other issues we'll see in the second term they're going to go full bore. pardon the pun. go all the way maximum in terms of what they're going to propose. no sense of the incremental. >> the incremental is going to lose probably. might as well go big or go home. what do you say? the republicans, is there any -- are there just -- are there any in the house where they could find political benefit doing this? >> you know, i don't think the politics of guns really has changed all that much. i think it remains the case that people who vote on this issue tend to be people who are enthusiastic about gun ownership. and suspicious of gun regulation. and i think the other problem -- >> remember, this is probably

more rural america than urban america.america, than urban america, it's less a democratic have been republican divide and more an a rural/suburban divide. >> the other thing is, i think there's a certain amount of skepticism that would, "a," do anything about the overall crime great and, "b," do anything about newtown. that's a problem that advocates have to overcome. >> that's why it has to be a comprehensive discussion. it has to be a comprehensive discussion about video content. mental health. ohm sorry things that have to be at that table. >> we'll stop here a minute. take a break. sneak in a break. a little more time to hear you guys. how many members of congress were on the house judicial commit that voted to impeach president nixon? the answer, did you know this -- >> connors. and charlie rangel. both are still serving. we'll be right back. ts.

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♪ let's bring back art, vince and mike viqueira. schumer would not say he wouldn't get confirmed. we knew schumer wouldn't be a no, but not confirmed. >> it was a tough fight. ben cardin coming out -- lukewarm -- more negative than lukewarm. i think chuck hagel, you think of the old days in congress and everybody wishes they went out and had drinks and had dinner. the thing you hear about chuck hagel when you call around, chuck hagel didn't do lunch, literally. he didn't go to the weekly lunches. >> and you served with him. do you think that there's -- usually, there's always

deference to former senators. >> there's not that much deference. but i don't think it will be a cakewalk. they know what they're doing and i think they make a tremendous bet. but i also think that, you know, the thinks that they're bringing up, he's addressed them. he's a veteran. people know that he is not going to be the one that one that makes -- you know, he's not going a rogue defense secretary. he's going to be advising the president. >> do you think there would be a filibuster, though? do you think republicans would filibuster? or do you think that maybe that will be a bridge that republicans who don't vote for him but vote to move him? >> i'm going to echo senator schumer and say it's too soon. my bet would be against the filibuster and confirmation. >> meaning, he'll basically say, democrats are going to confirm. but republicans are not going to prevent the vote? >> i'd say no republicans. >> my friend jonathan last has a

new book coming out what to expect when no one's expecting. that may be the new fertility trends in this country. >> okay. senator? >> i know you think i'm going to be my son in football but i'm actually going to be my sister who is a film director who has two great documentaries. >> was it just a few years ago when the three of us were sitting in the white house with the "the daily rundown." three-year anniversary coming up. >> all right. and a birthday in the control room. >> i was going to be mum. i was not going to say his name. >> brett is no longer a young man. >> happy birthdabirthday. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." that's it tomorrow, on the last show before we begin the new year. coming up next, chris jansing. bye-bye. t. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken

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